


Out in the Cold

by creatureofhobbit



Category: Scream (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5369717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creatureofhobbit/pseuds/creatureofhobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Audrey struggles to break free from Piper's plan and to deal with her feelings for Emma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out in the Cold

It had been meant to be the two of them together forever, Audrey and Emma. And Noah, of course, but she didn’t feel the same way about him as she did about Emma. Noah was best friend material, pure and simple. Audrey loved him like a brother. But Emma – Audrey loved her as more than that. Always and forever, that was what Audrey hoped they would be. At one time, she had believed it.

It hadn’t taken her long to realise she was wrong.

Audrey hadn’t been able to believe it at first. Emma had always hated that crowd, especially Nina. Jake and Tyler were a pair of asses, and as for Will Belmont, well, was there any more to him than just some pretty boy jock? Emma had tried to persuade Audrey at first that they were a lot nicer than she thought, that okay, Nina could be hard to take sometimes but Riley was sweet, Brooke was a lot of fun, Jake and Tyler really weren’t the asses they’d always thought and, well, Audrey had tuned out when Emma started talking about Will. It drove her crazy listening to Emma going on about that stupid date where they went for a curry, how she went to watch all his games, how funny he was, in fact anything about Will, because everything that came out of her mouth now was a reminder that Emma loved someone else, and it was never going to be her.

Noah did his best to cheer her up, to remind her that she was still lovable and if Emma couldn’t see that it was her problem. And sometimes it even worked, sometimes he could manage to take her mind off things. One day, he’d told her about his new favourite podcast, some true crime series presented by a woman named Piper Shaw. Audrey initially listened to it just to keep Noah company. Then one day, Piper did a podcast about some girl whose best friend had ditched her for a more popular crowd, leading said girl to pull a gun on the queen bee, and Audrey felt like Piper was speaking to her. Every time Piper mentioned the name of the leader of the clique, someone called Nicola, Audrey would hear Nina. On some impulse, she sent a comment to Piper, something about how great the podcast was and how she’d felt as she heard it.

Audrey had never expected Piper to actually reply to her. But to her surprise, Piper responded, saying she had been there herself, and taking an interest in what Audrey was saying in a way Audrey would never have expected her to do for a fan. She didn’t tell Noah at the time. She didn’t know why, given that she told him everything else. Maybe it started out as not wanting him to resent her, given that he was the only reason she got into Piper’s podcast in the first place. 

But as they discussed more personal things, Audrey knew she didn’t want to share with Noah that she still had feelings for Emma. He thought she was over it, had said recently that he was proud of her for moving on.

In time, she even started thinking it might become true. When she met Rachel, she began to wonder whether Rachel may be the one who could help her move on from Emma, let her close the door on those feelings once and for all.

Then Nina was found dead, Piper came to town, and Audrey began to realise what she may have set in motion. She pleaded with Piper to leave town to stop it, to let her move on with her life with Rachel. But Piper said that it was too late for that, that she had to finish what she had started. She explained to Audrey that the real reason she had responded was that she had recognised the name Emma Duval, that Emma was her half sister, that Margaret Duval and the killer Brandon James were her real parents, and she was here to pay Emma back for having the life that she, Piper, had always wanted.

“I can’t let you do this,” Audrey had warned. “I have to stop you.”

“We’ll see about that.” Piper had hissed. And when Rachel was later found dead, Audrey knew that that was Piper’s message to her, that there would be worse to come if she spoke out. “If you don’t help me,” Piper threatened, “that will be you.”

Piper played on Audrey’s insecurities, taunted her with the fact that it looked like Noah was about to become involved with Riley Marra, another member of the clique. “First it was Emma, now it’s Noah, he’s going to be spending all his time with them, and you’ll be out in the cold. You can’t let that happen.” As she’d said it, the vision of that had flashed before Audrey’s eyes. Piper was right; Audrey couldn’t lose another friend to them. Then she reminded Audrey of Will, and how she had felt every time she had to watch Audrey and Emma together. Audrey was trapped; she had no choice but to help Piper, and in some of those moments she felt she almost wanted to. Then she would spend time with Emma again, just like they used to before Will had appeared on the scene, and Audrey found her old feelings starting to resurface. In those moments, she knew she had to find a way to stop Piper, to defeat her for Emma’s sake.

As she pulled the gun on her, Audrey believed that she had won, that she had managed to end Piper without her involvement coming out, that she had managed to retain Noah’s friendship. And Emma? Well, she may be with Kieran now, but who knew, maybe things would change there, maybe one day Audrey would get her chance after all. But she had to destroy all her correspondence with Piper, make sure her involvement in the murders never came out. Then maybe one day, she and Emma could finally be together.


End file.
